Meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia amid efforts to end internal conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
On February 15-16, the African Union hosted its 38th Ordinary Summit at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme of “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.”
The gathering brings together representatives from the 55 member-states all of which are independent with the exception of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) still under the occupation of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Following the research, writing and organizational work of many within civil society on the continent and the Diaspora, the AU summit emphasized the direct link between the legacies of the Atlantic Slave Trade and European colonialism and the continuing underdevelopment and impoverishment of not only the 1.4 billion Africans living on the continent notwithstanding those scattered throughout North America, the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Western Europe. Despite its rich repository of strategic minerals and metals, the African people are still subjected to the global unequal distribution of economic and political power.
One major accomplishment of the summit was the election of a new AU Commission Chairperson which oversees the day-to-day operations of the continental organization with its numerous councils and working committees. This coming May will represent the 62nd anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) founded in 1963. In 2002, the OAU was transformed into the AU with a renewed charter which mandates greater unity within the political, economic, military and cultural spheres.
Image: African Union Commision Chair H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti
The new Commission Chairperson is H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf of the Horn of Africa state of the Republic of Djibouti. His deputy will be H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi of the Republic of Algeria in North Africa.
An entry on the AU website provides information on the background of Youssouf, noting:
“60-year-old H.E. Mahmoud Youssouf will take over from the outgoing Chairperson H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat (Chad, Central Region) who has served for two consecutive terms since 2017. H.E. Mahmoud Youssouf is the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Djibouti and has previously served as both the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) among key other roles. He was competing against H.E. Raila Amolo Odinga, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya and H.E. Richard Randriamandrato, Former Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Madagascar.”
This year’s theme focusing on reparations for centuries of oppression and exploitation drew profound hostility from the United States and European governments. Nonetheless, the AU Summit continued with its work by noting that the present circumstances facing Africans across the continent and the world cannot be separated from the historical and contemporary character of relations between these geopolitical regions. See this.
In the Caribbean where the majority of residents are of African descent, the call for reparations has gained popularity in recent years. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, attended the AU Summit where she addressed the plight of African people from the perspective of the Caribbean.
The African Development Bank (AfDB), which historically has worked closely with the AU, said in their report on the recent summit and the impression left by the Barbados leader, that:
“Prime Minister Mottley emphasized Africa’s strategic role in shaping global economic trends, particularly highlighting the continent’s control of 40% of the world’s minerals. She stressed the importance of addressing emerging challenges like artificial intelligence, urging African nations to take a proactive role in technological advancement rather than becoming ‘victims of technology.’ She also underscored the urgency of removing artificial barriers between Africa and the Caribbean, calling for the elimination of transit visa requirements to boost trade and integration. Mottley echoed demands for reparatory justice, noting that both the Caribbean and Africa began their independence journey with ‘chronic deficits’ in resources, fairness, and opportunity.”
The acquisition of reparations for enslavement and colonialism will require a protracted struggle against imperialism. Since the rise of the world capitalist system, the monetary value derived from exploitation and extraction are nearly incalculable.
By demanding reparations, the AU has expressed its solidarity with the downtrodden masses of African people on the continent and abroad. From a strategic and tactical point of view, the major decisions will have to concentrate on the means to exact justice from the imperialist states aimed at fostering qualitative development, economic independence and territorial sovereignty for the African continent.
Summit Addressed the Crisis of Instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
A profound case in point on the impact of colonialism and neo-colonialism is the ongoing crisis in the DRC. In the eastern region of the country in the provinces of North and South Kivu, fighting intensified during the days leading up to the AU Summit.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi was not present at the AU Summit and instead attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany to demand the isolation of Rwanda. President Paul Kagame, the longtime leader of Rwanda, has been accused of deploying troops in support of the M23 rebels and the Congo River Alliance. The DRC government was represented by Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka who addressed the Peace and Security Council of the AU blaming Rwanda for the current situation.
Just days after the AU Summit, the government of President Yoweri Museveni of neighboring Uganda sent troops from his military forces into the city of Bunia in Eastern DRC. The official position of the Ugandan government is that the troops deployed are in support of the DRC government in Kinshasa. However, it will take more time to make a determination as to their actual purpose in this intervention.
There are 11,500 UN blue helmet peacekeeping troops in the Eastern DRC. In addition, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in which the DRC is a member-state, has committed several thousand troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi as well.
The AU Peace and Security Council (PAS) has called for all unauthorized foreign troops to withdraw from the Eastern DRC. Nonetheless, more work will have to be done to stabilize the situation in North and South Kivu.
AU Calls for an End to Fighting in the Republic of Sudan
Since April 15, 2023, there has been fierce fighting between the two major components of the Sudanese military apparatus. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by the head-of-state General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (SAF) led by Mohamad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti) have been seeking dominance within the entire country.
Within recent weeks, the SAF has made advances in taking back territory from the RSF in North Darfur and Khartoum. Altogether there have been 11.5 million people displaced since the fighting erupted between the SAF and RSF. 8.5 million are internally displaced while approximately 3 million have fled Sudan to neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Egypt. See this.
The mass democratic movement which erupted in the country during late 2018 into 2019 resulting in the military overthrow of former President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has been completely overshadowed by the internal conflict. The U.S. has been engaged in a destabilization program against Sudan for more than two decades.
In August 1998, the country suffered an aerial bombardment by the administration of then U.S. President Bill Clinton falsely claiming that it was involved in harboring terrorists who bombed the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Later the country was targeted by the administration of President George W. Bush, Jr. over false claims of genocide in the western Darfur region of the country. Under the first Trump administration, the then interim Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was coerced into “recognizing” the State of Israel, contravening the Sudanese parliament which passed an Israeli Boycott Act as early as 1958, just two years after its national independence.
The AU 38th Ordinary Summit declared that the humanitarian crisis in the Republic of Sudan is the worst in the world. The country was suspended from the continental body in 2019 due to its lack of progress regarding the transformation to a democratic state. See this and this.
Pan-African Futures and the AU
Calling for reparations from the imperialist states for the historic injustices levelled against African people represented a positive step in the direction of achieving the unification of Africa and the Diaspora. Nonetheless, other major issues such as the military occupation of African states by western forces; the resolution of the conflicts in Sudan and the DRC; along with a program to replace the aid projects suspended by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Trump administration, must be addressed in order for the long term objectives of the AU to be met by its member-states.
Although the Trump administration has misled people in the U.S. and internationally about its imperialist intentions in Africa and around the world, it is quite obvious from its initial executive orders related to domestic and foreign policy that its ongoing hegemonic aims remain firmly intact. Trump has threatened numerous states and geopolitical regions throughout the world including the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Somalia, etc.
Therefore, the AU and its constituencies must continue on a path of genuine political and economic independence for its member-states. Until this happens, it will not be possible to end the existing imperialist-instigated conflicts, the humanitarian crises and to foster qualitative development on the continent as a whole.
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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
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